On a lot of the trails here in Southern California, the rocks are loose, dry, and sandy – slippery areas that resist even the grippiest of boot soles.

I’m sure many of you have seen some steep use-trails climbing up canyons off the established trail, and these paths seem like they’d cut off some distance or time to your planned trek. I’m sure you’ve also asked yourself why it’s such a big deal to stay on the trail.

Well, this is why.

This is video of two hikers in Zion National Park. After climbing a route on an established trail, they decided to descend along a new route, when this happened:

*note – while no one is seriously injured in this video, there is some “trail language” that may not be appropriate for some … but in this situation, it’s perfectly understandable.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPscB1WSgWk[/youtube]

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